Lot-21-JAN-DAVIDSZ.-DE-HEEM

PROPERTY OF THE HEIRS OF JACOB LIERENS (LOTS 21 AND 22) ■*21 JAN DAVIDSZ. DE HEEM (UTRECHT 1606-1684 ANTWERP)

A banquet still life signed 'J.D. de Heem' (lower centre, on the sheet of music) oil on canvas 54æ x 45º in. (139.2 x 115.1 cm.) £3,000,000-5,000,000 US$4,300,000-7,100,000 €3,500,000-5,800,000

PROVENANCE: (Possibly) Clemens August of Bavaria (1700-1761), Archbishop Elector of Boston, Museum of Fine Arts; and Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, The Age Cologne, Bishop of Paderborn, Hildesheim and Osnabrück, before at least of Rubens, 22 September 1993-24 April 1994, no. 112. 1761; his sale (†), Bonn, 22 May 1764 (=8th day), lot 67, ‘Un grand Tableau à Nagasaki, Huis ten Bosch, Masters of Utrecht: 17-19th century paintings from Fruits de quatre pieds six pouces de hauteur & trois pieds neuf pouces de the collection of Centraal Museum Utrecht, 1994-5, no. 20. largeur, peint par Jean de Heen’ (54 x 45 in.) (54.30 Rt to the following), Stockholm, Nationalmuseum; and Helsinki, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Simon Mordechai Baruch (1716-1802), Bad Mergentheim and Bonn. Törnrosmadonnan. Och andra mästerverk från Utrecht, 1997, no. 15. Anonymous sale; Christian Benjamin Rauschner, Frankfurt, 1765, lot 250, 'Auf Santiago, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Dutch Masters from the Golden Leinwand, Hoch 4 Schuh 6 Zoll, breit 3 Schuh 9 Zoll, Ein Stück mit Früchten. Age, 1997-8, no. 22. Auf Tuch gemahlt. C'est un tableau avec des fruits. Peint sur de la toile’ (54 x Sao Paulo, Pinacoteca do Estado, Mestres do Século de Ouro na Pintura 45 in.). Holandesa, 1998, no. 22. Charles Searle Hayne (1833-1903), London; his sale (†), Christie’s, London, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum; and Essen, Kulturstiftung Ruhr Essen, 16 April 1904, lot 105 (600 gns. to Schaeffer). Das flämische Stilleben 1550-1680 : eine Ausstellung des Kunsthistorische Henri James Simon (1851-1932), Berlin, by 1906. Museums Wien und der Kulturstiftung Ruhr Essen, 1 September-21 July 2002, Mrs. U.M. Kneppelhout-Van Braam, Oosterbeek / Mr. Egbert de Langen, no. 90. Amsterdam / Mr. Count Bottaro Costa, The Hague; Frederik Muller & Cie., Luxembourg, Villa Vauban, The Five Senses in Painting, 19 March-26 June 2016. Amsterdam, 16 December 1919, lot 29 (8,500 guilders). Anonymous sale; Frederik Muller & Cie., Amsterdam, 12 April 1921, lot LITERATURE: 4a (acquired by Jonas Alexander van Bever, Amsterdam, on behalf of the R. van Lutterveld, Kunst van Nederland. Schilders van het Stilleven, Naarden, following), 1947, pp. 23, 46 and 50, fig. 23. Jacob Lierens (1877-1949); his sale, Frederik Muller & Cie., Amsterdam, C.H. de Jonge, Centraal Museum - Utrecht. Catalogus der schilderijen, Utrecht, 14 October 1941 (=1st day), lot 311 (NLG 34,000). 1952, pp. 56-7, no. 137 (with inaccurate provenance). Acquired for the “Sonderauftrag Linz” via Hans Posse, 22 October 1941 (for FL. E. Greindl, Les peintres flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle, Brussels, 37,700.- or 30,000 RM) (Linz No. 2044). 1956, pp. 103, 171 and 174 (as two different paintings). Recovered by the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section, transferred to A.P. de Mirimonde, 'Joris et Jan van Son dans les Musées de province', in La the Munich Central Collecting Point (MCCP No. 4973), 19 July 1945. Revue des Arts, X, 1960, pp. 7-18. Transferred to Amsterdam from the above, 8 July 1946. P. Gammelbo, 'La natura morta Olandese nel seicento', in Antichità Viva 6, Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, The Netherlands, 1946, inv. no. 1010, and 1963, fig. 7. placed under the custody of the following, J. Foucart, Musées de Hollande, la peinture néerlandaise, Paris, 1965, section Dienst voor’s Rijks Verspreide Kunstvoorwerpen, Rijksdienst voor het 33. Cultureel Erfgoed, inv. no. NK 2711. G. Bott, 'Stilleben des 17. Jahrhunderts. Jacob Marrell', in Kunst in Hessen und On long-term loan from the above to the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, 1948- am Mittelrhein, VI, 1966, p. 110. 2019, inv. no. 10231. M.E. Houtzager, et. al., Röntgenonderzoek van de oude schilderijen in het Restituted to the heirs of Jacob Lierens, 2019. Centraal Museum te Utrecht, Utrecht, 1967, pp. 238-9. A.P. de Mirimonde, 'Musique et symbolisme chez Jan Davidsz. de Heem, EXHIBITED: Cornleis Janszoon en Jan II Janszoon de Heem', in Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Berlin, Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Ausstellung von Werken alter Kunst aus dem Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 1970, pp. 280-2, fig. 38 (confusing Privatbesitz der Mitglieder des Kaiser Friedrich-Museums-Verein, 1906, no. 57. this painting and its copy). Delft, Museum 'Het Prinsenhof', Wintertentoonstelling. Van intimiteit tot L. Grisebach, Willem Kalf 1619-1693, Berlin, 1974, p. 125. theatre, 1951-2, no. 30. R.D. Leppert, The theme of Music in Flemish Paintings of the seventeenth Utrecht, Jaarbeurs, Musement, 19 June-13 July 1969. century, II, Munich and Salzburg, 1977, no. 270. Leiden, Museum De Lakenhal; and Groninger Museum, Een stuckie stillegend F.W. Robinson, W.H. Wilson, L. Silver, Catalogue of the Flemish and Dutch goet, 1985-6, no. VI-27. Paintings 1400-1900, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota FL, Delft, Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof; Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum; 1980, no. 84 (entry by F.W. Robinson). and Cambridge, Harvard University, A Prosperous Past, The Sumptuous Still E. Greindl, Les peintres flamands de nature morte au XVIIe siècle, Sterrebeek, Life in the Netherlands 1600-1700, 1988-9, no. 38. 1983 (2nd ed.), pp. 124, 249, figs. 130, 360 (no. 26) and 362 (no. 131). Utrecht, Centraal Museum; and Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, O. ter Kuile, Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst. The Netherlands Office for Fine Arts Jan Davidsz de Heem en zijn kring, 16 February-7 July 1991, no. 8. The Hague. Catalogue of Paintings by Artists Born before 1870. Volume VI. Madrid, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, La pintura holandesa del siglo de ora: la escuela Seventeenth-century North Netherlandish Still Lifes, The Hague, 1985, pp. 50, de Utrecht, October 1992-February 1993, no. 33. figs. 33, 51, 116-7 (no. VI-27), 204 and 206.

90 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue. 92 F.G. Meijer, 'Book review of O. ter Kuile, Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst. The Netherlands Office for Fine Arts The Hague. Catalogue of Paintings by Artists Born before 1870. Volume VI. Seventeenth-century North Netherlandish Still Lifes', in Oud Holland, C, 1986, pp. 204-206. I. Ember, et. al., Niederländisch malerei des 17. Jahrhundert aus Budapest, exhibition catalogue, Cologne and Utrecht, Wallraf-Richartz Museum and Centraal Museum, 1987, p. 41, fig. 8 (entry by J. de Meyere). H. Robels, Frans Snyders. Stilleben- und Tiermaler 1579-1657, Munich, 1989, p. 164. P. Huys Janssen, 'Schilders in Utrecht 1600-1700', in Historische Reeks Utrecht, XV, Utrecht, 1990, pp. 82-3, fig. 72. F.G. Meijer, 'Book review of Exh. cat. A Prosperous Past. The Sumptuous Still Life in the Netherlands 1600-1700', in Simiolus, XX, no. 1, 1990-1, pp. 91-8. S. Segal, Jan Davidsz De Heem and his circle, exhibition catalogue, Utrecht, Centraal Museum and Brunswick, Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, 1991, pp. 18, 38, 77, 139-41, and addendum p.2, no. 8 (German edition, no. 7A). I. Schwartz, ‘”Niet hoe veel maer hoe eel” Symboliek en signaturen van Jan Davidszoon de Heem’, in Vitrine, 1991, pp. 13-17. E. de Heer, F. Kuyvenhoven and E. Mijnlieff,Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst. The Netherlands Office for Fine Arts The Hague. Old Master Paintings. An Illustrated Summary Catalogue, The Hague, 1992, p. 134, no. 1085. G.J.M. Weber, ‘Ausstellungen. Stilleben im goldenen Jahrhundert – Jan Davidsz de Heem und sein Kreis’, in Kunstchronik, XLV, no. 4, April 1992, pp. 149 and 161. R. Trnek, Die holländischen Gemälde des 17. Jahrhunderts in der Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bildenden Künste in Wien, Vienna, Cologne and Weimar, 1992, p. 176. P. Sutton and M.E. Wieseman, The Age of Rubens, exhibition catalogue, Boston, 1993, no. 112, pp. 541-3, illustrated (entry by M.E. Wieseman). M.-L. Hairs, ‘Jan Davidsz. de Heem’ in Le dictionnaire des peintres belges du XIVe siècle à nos jours : depuis les premiers maîtres des anciens Pays-Bas méridionaux et de la Principauté de Liège jusqu'aux artistes contemporains, Ph. Roberts-Jones, ed., Brussels, 1995, pp. 283-284. P. Taylor, Dutch Flower Painting 1600-1720, New Haven, 1995, p. 95, figs. 56, 160 and 213. S. Segal, ‘Heem, de. Dutch family of painters’, in The Dictionary of Art, XIV, J. Turner, ed., London, 1996, pp. 288-291. L.M. Helmus, De verzamelingen van het Centraal Museum Utrecht. 5. Schilderkunst tot 1850, Utrecht, 1999, I, pp. 301-3; II, pp. 929-30. K. Sidén, ed., Musiken I Konsten. Det klingande 1600-talet. Nationalmusei Årsbok, XLVII, Stockholm, 2001, no. 140-1. M. Díaz Padrón, et. al., Triumph of the sea: the riches of marine life in XVII- century European painting, Madrid, 2003, pp. 152-3. F.G. Meijer, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Catalogue of the Collection of Paintings. The Collection of Dutch and Flemish Still-Life Paintings Bequeathed by Daisy Linda Ward, Oxford and Zwolle, 2003, pp. 253-4, fig. 58.3. J. de Meyere, Utrechtse schilderkunst in de Gouden Eeuw : honderd schilderijen uit de collectie van het Centraal Museum te Utrecht, Utrecht, 2006, pp. 213-5. F.G. Meijer, ‘Jan Davidsz. de Heem’s Landscapes’, in Album Amicorum Marijke de Kinkelder. Collegiale bijdragen over landschappen, marines en architectuur, The Hague, 2013, pp. 253-270. F.G. Meijer, Jan Davidsz. de Heem 1606-1684, PhD dissertation, University of Amsterdam, 2016, I, pp. 216-7, 219-20, no. A 199, illustrated; II, pp. 222-224, Fig. 1 Johannes Lutma, Salt-Cellar, 1639, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam no. A 199.

93 Fig. 2 Jan Davidsz. de Heem, A banquet still life, Private collection © Christie’s

Ever since its re-emergence at Christie’s in 1904, this painting has widely featuring the motif of a putto seated astride a dolphin. Reminiscent of been acknowledged as one of Jan Davidsz. de Heem’s finest and most one portrayed in his Banquet Still Life with a Lobster of 1642, it appears to important still-lifes. Preserved in remarkable condition, it offers a dazzling have been modelled on designs of two similar pairs of salts made by the display of the artist’s technical virtuosity on a grand scale. On long term Amsterdam silversmith Johannes Lutma, dated to 1639 (fig. 1; Amsterdam, loan at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht since 1948, the picture has Rijksmuseum). A small dance master’s violin and bow, called a kit or subsequently appeared in no fewer than twelve international exhibitions, pochette, is propped against the blue casket, near which is a pepper pot, making it one of the most widely admired and extensively published Dutch a knife with a chequered handle and a nautilus shell – the same as that in still-lifes in the modern era. his flower vanitas in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden.

It is here offered for sale for the first time in eighty years, further to its The luxuriousness of the composition arises not merely from the costly restitution in 2019 to the heirs of its last rightful owner - Jacob Lierens, a treasures depicted but also from the grand format and elaborate Jewish businessman and art collector in Amsterdam, who sold the picture depiction of surfaces and textures: de Heem adjusts his technique at auction in 1941 before his company was ‘Aryanised’ by the Nazis and he to render the hard sheen of the gilt silver, the lustre of the nautilus and his wife were interned at Westerbork. The picture was acquired at the shell and the coarseness of the lemon peel, all intended to heighten a sale by Hans Posse for the projected ‘Führermuseum’ at Linz before being connoisseur’s appreciation of the objects. Combining varying gradations returned to the Netherlands after the war. of detail, de Heem employs both quick, broad brushstrokes with minutely observed ones, building harmonious yet subtle combinations of A heavily-laden banquet table is displayed before a terrace, bordered contrasting colours and textures. The intricate play of light and shadow by the ruined column of a portico supported by a low wall, over which is not only used on glass and metal, but also on the different materials the leafy tendrils of vines encroach upon the table. Overhead, a dark like the velvet green fabric, the golden shimmers of its embroidery and blue tasselled curtain is drawn up to reveal a wall and an expansive sky, fringe, the folds of the crumpled red pillow and the multicolour-striped which de Heem included in several of his larger still-lifes, with similar stool. The foliage shows the profound effect that the flower paintings or more extensive vistas. From the upper left, a radiant light illuminates of Daniel Seghers had on de Heem, enriching his design with tender, each individual object and texture, casting shadows on the wall. A thread-like stems of twigs and fruit, such as the graceful leaves of profusion of rare and costly treasures spills over the table draped with an the orange, beside which the loose ends of the lute’s strings curl like opulently fringed green velvet cloth and white napkin. To the left stands calligraphy, mimicking the artist’s signature on the paper below. The an ornate silver gilt goblet and cover, possibly from Nuremberg of the seemingly casual arrangement of luxurious objects on this ambitious early-seventeenth century (see S. Segal, A Prosperous Past, op. cit., p. scale lends the picture a pervading sense of effortless grandeur, 149). De Heem may have relied on earlier studies for this detail, since one reminiscent of the series of four monumental canvases de Heem painted very comparable object appears in his monumental canvas of 1643. To in Antwerp in the early 1640’s, a notable example of which was recently its right stands a façon de Venise glass of white wine, beside which is a on the market (fig. 2; Christie’s, London, 15 December 2020, lot 10, tall flute of red wine and a jewel casket covered in shimmering blue silk, £5,766,000). I has been suggested, for example by Marjorie Wiseman with keys in the lock. On top of this is placed a towering bekerschroef (op. cit.), that this picture must date from the same Antwerp period, (goblet holder) holding a berkemeier (goblet) filled with white wine, although Meijer has now shown conclusively that it was painted in the

94 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue. Fig. 3 Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Still life of fruit and other objects on a stone ledge, c. 1670, Private collection © Christie’s

mid-1660s when de Heem had settled back in Utrecht (op. cit., 2016). Meijer observes parallels with works like his Still life on a stone ledge in front of a niche (Oslo, Nasjonalgalleriet) and Still life of fruit and other objects on a stone ledge of circa 1670 (fig. 3; Christie’s, London, 9 July 2015, lot 44). He also points out that the brilliant handling of light was a particular characteristic of de Heem’s still-lifes of the 1660s (ibid., p. 215). The convincing suggestion of depth and reflection in the glasses, Meijer notes, was also developed early in this decade: ‘with what appears to be a transparent copper green on hues of grey and white’ (ibid., p. 211). This period in Utrecht marked a moment of transition in de Heem’s oeuvre, moving away from the more painterly and baroque Flemish style of Antwerp to a smoother and more polished technique with more exhaustive attention to detail.

With a picture as rich and impactful as this, it is quite possible that it may have incorporated a deeper meaning for the contemporary viewer. Sam Segal has proposed that this painting (like other similar works by the artist) should be interpreted as an allegory of the choice between good and evil (op. cit. 1991, pp. 140-141): with ripe fruit, luxury objects and music representing the temptation of transitory worldly pleasures; while the wine and bread are symbols of the Eucharist, the goldfinch represents the soul, the caterpillar and butterfly represent the resurrection, and the detail of the broken and cracked pillar intimates that not even hard stone can withstand the ravages of time. Wiseman argues that de Heem’s message was less overtly religious and more about moderation, picking up on very specific allusions the artist sometimes made to temperance and vanity with the aid of inscriptions, such as in a work dated 1651 (Meijer, op. cit., 2016, no. A 133), inscribed ‘Niet hoe veel [maer hoe Eel]’ (‘Not how much but how noble’), alluding to the importance of quality over quantity. Meijer postulates that the single orange resting on the pillow in the foreground may also have referred to the young Prince William of Orange, later William III (1650- 1702), reflecting the Prince’s sympathies with the Protestant circles in which de Heem had moved in Utrecht (op. cit., 2016, p. 212).